Pop-up delivery table for paper cutting press

ABSTRACT

A paper cutting press has a cutting die and a cutting board for making laterally spaced die cuts through a lift of paper to provide laterally-spaced stacks of blanks separated by waste. A delivery table, which is mounted adjacent to the cutting board for receiving the die cut lift of paper, has a plurality of spaced projectable and retractable cam fingers which are each positioned to engage beneath a stack of blanks to lift a corner of the stack above the level of the cut waste which is between the stacks of blanks so that the stacks of blanks can be easily separated from the waste.

United States Patent [191 Vallier Dec. 18, 1973 1 POP-UP DELIVERY TABLEFOR PAPER CUTTING PRESS [75] Inventor: Raymond G. Vallier, Brookfield,

Wis.

[73] Assignee: Western States Envelope Company, Milwaukee, Wis.

[22] Filed: May 22, 1972 [2]] Appl. No.: 255,722

[52] U.S. Cl 83/103, 83/l60, 83/534, 83/701 5 l] Int. Cl 326d 7/06 Fieldof Search 83/103, 27, 160, 83/534, 701; 93/36 A [56] References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 3,391,590 7/1968 Stein 83/103 PrimaryExaminer-Frank T. Yost Attorney-Arthur L. Morsell, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT A paper cutting press has a cutting die and a cuttingboard for making laterally spaced die cuts through a lift of paper toprovide laterally-spaced stacks of blanks separated by waste. A deliverytable, which is mounted adjacent to the cutting board for receiving thedie cut lift of paper, has a plurality of spaced projectable andretractable cam fingers which are each positioned to engage beneath astack of blanks to lift a corner of the stack above the level of the cutwaste which is between the stacks of blanks so that the stacks of blankscan be easily separated from the waste.

7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDUEE] 8 {E75 SHEET 1 [If 3 POP-UPDELIVERY TABLE FOR PAPER CUTTING PRESS 1 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to paper cutting presses in which a plurality ofspaced die cuts are made in a lift of paper. Such paper cutting pressesare used for cutting envelope blanks and similar paper articles. In thecase of envelope blanks, a relatively large lift of paper is used, and aplurality of laterally spaced die cuts which form the envelope blanksare cut through the lift of paper by the cutting press. The die cutblanks are positioned relatively close together and the papertherebetween constitutes scrap or waste. After the cutting operation hasbeen completed, the die cut lift of paper is slid out of the cuttingpress onto a delivery table where the die cut blanks are separated fromthe waste and stacked.

In the past, a good deal of difficulty has been experienced inseparating the stacks of die cut blanks from the waste between them.There was not enough room for the operator to get his fingers betweenthe waste and the die cut blanks so that he could grasp the stack of diecut blanks and remove it. And even when the waste had been moved awayfrom the die cut blanks, it was difficult for the operator to get hisfingers under the stacks to pick them up. As a result, no matter howfast the cutting press operated, the overall operation was bottleneckedat a relatively slow rate by the process of separating the stacks of diecut blanks from the waste.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention, theabove-noted drawback is overcome by providing a delivery table which isequipped with projectable and retractable cam pop-up fingers eachengageable with the lower surface of a stack of blanks and to lift acorner of the stack above the level of the surrounding waste. Thisenables the operator to readily graspastack and separate it from thewaste. The projectable and retractable fingers are spaced across the.surface of the delivery table and each one is positionedto be below. thecorner of a corresponding stackof blanks when a die cut lift of paper isslid onto the delivery table.

In the preferred embodiment, the delivery table contains a plurality ofspaced parallel rotatable rods which are linked together'fo'rsimultaneous rotation. The projectable and retractable pop-up fingerscan be attached to the rotatable rods at any desired location. Rotationof the rods in one direction projects the fingers above the top of thedelivery table, and rotation in the opposite direction retracts thefingers below the top of the delivery table. Cam means is attached tothe rotatable rods to utilize movement of the delivery table away fromthe cutting press as a means of rotating the rods to project thefingers.

Accordingly, one object of this invention is to provide a novel paperdelivery table which is equipped with means to expedite the process ofseparating die cut stacks of blanks from the waste therebetween.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel paper deliverytable having projectable and retractive fingers which are positioned toengage the bottom corners of stacks of blanks to lift them above thewaste therebetween. g

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel paper deliverytable of the above-noted character in which the projectable andretractable fingers may be positioned in any desired location.

An additional objectof this invention is to provide a novel paperdelivery table of the above-noted character in which movement of thedelivery table is utilized to project the extendable and retractablefingers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of oneillustrative delivery table of this invention utilized in combinationwith a paper cutting press having a movable cutting table;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the delivery table shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the delivery table shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the delivery table shown inFIGS. 1 -3;

FIG. 5 is a detail side view of the latching mechanism for the deliverytable shown in FIGS. 1 4; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one of the projectable and retractablefingers for the delivery table shown in FIGS. 1 5. 1

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 7 FIG. 1 shows one illustrativeembodiment of this invention utilized in combination with a papercutting press 10 which includes a cutting die 12 and a cutting board 14which is adapted to support a lift of paper 16 below the cuttingdie 12.The cutting die 12 is mounted for upward and downward movement of ahousing 18 which is mounted for horizontal movement on a support arm 20.The cutting die 12 is moved upwardly, downwardly, and horizontally byhydraulic means which are not shown in the drawings. The cutting board14 is mounted on a cutting table 22 which is slideably supported onframe members 23 and which is movable toward and away from cutting die12 by means of a hydraulic ram having a piston rod 24 connected tocutting table 22 and a cylinder 26 connected to frame members 28. Thecutting table 22 can be moved by piston rod 24'from a position wherethe'forward edge of the table 22 is under cutting die 12 to apositionwhere the table 22 is entirely clear of the cutting die 12. Themovements of cutting table '22 and cutting die 12 are coordinated byhydraulic control means, which are not shown in the drawings, so as toproduce a plurality of laterally spaced die cuts in the lift of paper16.

This invention is concerned with the process of separating the stacks ofspaced die cut blanks from the waste therebetween. After the lift ofpaper 16 has been completely die cut, it is moved clear of the cuttingdie 12 by withdrawal movement of cutting table 22. The die cut lift ofpaper 16 is then slid by the operator of the machine from cutting board14 onto a delivery table 30 which is mounted on and overlaps cuttingtable 22. A fresh lift of paper is then slid on cutting board 14 and thenew lift of paper is moved under the cutting die 12 by movement of thecutting table 22. While the fresh lift of paper is being cut by cuttingdie 12, the operator of the machine manually separates the stacks 32 ofdie cut blanks from the waste paper 34 which lies between the die cutblanks 32.

In the past, serious difficulties were experienced in the processof'manually separating the stacks of blanks 32 from the waste paper34.,There was not enough room between the stacks 32 and the waste 34 forthe operator to get his fingers into position to grasp the stacks 32 andremove them from the delivery table 30.

. The operator first had to move the waste 34 away from the stacks 32,and then carefully work his fingers under the stacks 32 in order tograsp them. This process had to be performed very carefully to avoiddisarranging the stacks of blanks 32. As a result of the above-noteddifficulties, the process of separating the stacks 32 from the waste 34was a bottleneck which held up the overall operation. No matter how fastthe cutting die 12 was operated, the overall operation was held to thetime required to laboriously separate the stacks 32 from the waste 34.

In accordance with this invention, however, the above-noted bottleneckis eliminated by providing popup means on the delivery table 30 forengaging beneath stacks 32 to lift them and thereby separate them fromthe waste 34 so that they may be readily grasped and removed fromdelivery table 30.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the delivery table 30 comprises a pluralityof spaced wooden stringers 36, which extend longitudinally with respectto the movement of cutting table 22, and a plurality of spaced rotatablerods 38 which extend through openings in stringers 36 transverse to themovement of cutting table 22. In this particular embodiment of theinvention, the stringers 36 are made of maple and the rotatable rods 38aremade of steel. The stringers 36 are held in place by being attachedto end members 40, which are also made of maple. Two sheet metal sidemembers 42 are attached'to the outside stringers 36 to keep the paper ondelivery table 30 from falling off.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, the rods 38 extend through one of theside stringers 36 and are mechanically linked together so as to rotatetogether. The mechanical linkage for the rods 38 includes a plurality ofshort crank arms 44 which are each rigidly connected at one end to acorresponding rotatable rod 38 and are pivotally connected at the otherend to a long linkage arm 46. Intermediate the length of delivery table30, an extended crank arm 48 is connected in the same manner as theshort crank arms 44 but contains an upward extension 49 to which a camroller 50 is attached. Force applied to the cam roller 50 moves thelinkage mechanism between an operable position shown by the solid linesin FIG. 3 and a collapsed position indicated by the dashed lines in FIG.3. The linkage mechanism is normally urged toward its collapsed positionby a spring 52 which extends between the extended crank arm 48 and theend rotatable rod 38. The linkage mechanism moves from its collapsedposition to its operable position when the cam roller 50 engages andrides up a curved cam surface 54 which is formed in a cam plate 56mounted on a frame member 58. The cam plate 56 is positioned to engagethe cam roller 50 when the delivery table 30 is moved away from thecutting press after the completion of a die cutting operation.

The above-described linkage and cam mechanism causes the rotatable rods38 to simultaneously rotate through an angle of approximately 80 at theend of the die cutting cycle. This rotary movement is utilized toproject a plurality of projectable and retractable popup fingers 60which are rigidly attached to the rotatable rods 38. As shown in FIG. 4,each of the fingers 60 is positioned to engage the bottom of acorresponding stack of blanks 32 to lift a corner of the stack when thefinger 60 rotates to its projected position. This provides enoughclearance between the stacks 32 and the waste 34, and between the stacks32 and the bottom of delivery table 30, so that the stacks 32 can beeasily grasped by the operator and removed from delivery table 30 in themanner shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, the stringers 36 and rotatable rods 38 form arectangular grid which contains 132 open spaces in which fingers 60 canbe attached to rods 38. The number of fingers 60 used, and the positionof the fingers 60, is determined by the number of die cut stacks 32 thatare cut in the lift of paper 26 and by the position of the stacks 32. Ingeneral terms, one of the fingers 60 is positioned as close as possibleto one corner of each stack 32 in the lift of paper 16 when the lift ofpaper 16 is slid into the delivery table 30. In this particular example,sixteen of the fingers 60 are used, spaced as shown in FIG. 2. In otherembodiments, fewer or more of the fingers 60 may be used, depending onthe number of stacks 32.

FIG. 6 shows a detail perspective view of one of the projectable andretractable fingers 60. It consists of a paper-engaging portion 62 whichis made of nylon and has a curved cam surface 64 for smoothly engagingthe lower surface of a stack 32 when the paper-engaging portion 62rotates to its projected position. The paperengaging portion 62 isattached to an aluminum clamping block 66 by means of machine screws 68.Clamping block 66 has a semi-cylindrical clamping surface 70 formedtherein for engaging one of the rotatable rods 38. A matchingsemi-cylindrical surface 72 is formed in a second clamping block 74which is attached to clamping block 66 by machine screws 76. It will beunderstood by those skilled in the art that the fingers 60 are rigidlyattached to the rotatable rods 38 by placing the clamping blocks 66 and74 so that the semicylindrical surfaces 70 and 72 embrace the rod 38 andthen tightening the machine screws 76 until the surfaces 70 and 72 aretightly pressed against the rod 38.

After the fingers 60 have been rotated to their projected full lineposition of FIG. 4, they are locked in the projected position by alatching mechanism containing a first latch member 78 (see FIGS. 4 and5) which snaps beneath a projecting tongue 80 on a second latch member82. The first latch member 78 is rigidly attached to one of therotatable rods 38 on the side of delivery table 30 opposite the sidehaving the cam roller 50 and its associated mechanical linkage. Thesecond latch member 82 is rotatably supported by the adjacent rotatablerod 38. When the fingers 60 are in their re-.

tracted position, which is shown by the dashed lines in FIG. 4, thefirst latch member 78 is in the position shown by the dashed lines inFIG. 5. When the fingers 60 rotate to their projected position, thefirst latch member 78 rotates downwardly and presses against theprojecting tongue 80, pushes the second latch member back to theposition shown by the dashed lines in FIG. 5, and then rides over thetongue 80 and then slips beneath it. The force of gravity draws thesecond latch member 82 back to the position shown by the solid lines inFIG. 5, thereby latching the first latch member 78 in position. Thisholds all of the fingers 60 in their extended position clue to thelinkage mechanism which rigidly joins the rods 38 together so that theyrotate as a unit.

When it is desired to retract the fingers 60, the second latching member82 is manually swung away from the first latching member 78 to free therods 38 for rotation. The fingers 60 are then rotated to their retractedposition through the action of spring 52 (see FIG. 3) which urges therods 38 to rotate counterclockwise, thereby rotating the fingers 60 totheir retracted position.

To expedite the sliding of the die cut lift of paper 16 onto thedelivery table 30, a sheet of plastic material 86 (see FIGS. 2 and 4) isfastened over the top of the stringers 36. Openings 88 are cut in thesheet of plastic material 86 to allow the fingers 60 to projecttherethrough when they are rotated to their projected position. Whereseveral different configurations of die cut blanks 32 are produced,several sheets of plastic material 86 will be provided, each with adifferent positioning of the openings 88 corresponding to the differentconfigurations of blanks 32. In these cases, the sheet of plasticmaterial 86 will be removably attached to the top of the stringers36 sothat it can be changed when a different configuration of blank 32 isproduced.

OPERATING CYCLE One illustrative operating cycle of the abovedescribedapparatuswill now be set forth starting from the initial condition wherethere is no paper on either the cutting board 14 or the delivery table30. In this initial condition, the fingers 60 of delivery table 30 arein their retracted position and the cutting board 14 is withdrawn fromthe cutting die 12. As the first step of the cycle, a lift 16 of paperis placed in the proper position on the cutting board 14. Next theautomatic control mechanism of cutting press is activated to provide thecoordinated movement of cutting table 22 and cutting die 12 to produce aplurality of spaced die cut stacks 32 ofblanks in the lift of paper 16.

After the die cutting operation is completed, the cutting table 22 movesthe stack of paper 16 out from under the cutting die 12 far enough tomake an oiling I the fingers 60 from their retracted position to theirprojected full line position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. As best shown inFIG. 4, the extension of fingers 60 lifts the corners of the stacks 32of blanks so that they can be easily grasped and removed from deliverytable 30.

While the die cut stacks 32 are being removed, another die cutting cycleis initiated to cut the fresh lift of paper that was placed on cuttingboard 14. Because of this cutting cycle, the cutting table 22 is movedunder the cutting die 12 and the cam roller 50 thus disengages from camsurface 54. The fingers 60 do not retract, however, because they arelatched in their projected position by the latch members 78 and 82 (seeFIGS. 4 and 5). After the die cut stacks 32 and waste 34 have beenremoved from the delivery table 30, the latch arm 82 is manually movedto release the latch and allow the fingers 60 to move to their retractedposition under the impetus of spring 52. This completes one cycle of theabove-described apparatus. The same cycle is repeated continuouslyduring normal operation of the apparatus.

From the foregoing description it will be clear that this inventionprovides a novel paper delivery table which is equipped with means toexpedite the process of separating stacks of die cut blanks from thewaste therebetween. And although this invention has been described inconnection with one illustrative embodiment thereof, it should beunderstood that the inven-' tion is not limited to the disclosedembodiment since many modifications can be made in the disclosedstructure without changing its fundamental principles. For example,although the fingers in the disclosed embodiment are extended by camaction, it may be desirable in other embodiments to have the fingersextended by a manually actuated mechanism. Also, although the discloseddelivery table 30 is made up of longitudinal stringers 36 and rotatablerods 38, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that severaldifferent modified forms can be employed if desired. It should,therefore, be understood that this invention includes all suchmodifications that fall within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a paper cutting press having a frame, having a paper cutting diemovably mounted on said frame, having a cutting board horizontallymovably mounted on said frame for movement between a retracted positionand a position where it supports a lift of paper in cutting relationshipwith said cutting die, having means for moving said cutting die so as tocut a plurality of spaced stacks of die cut blanks in said lift ofpaper, and having a delivery table adjacent to said cutting board forreceiving said die cut lift of paper, the improvement comprising aplurality of projectable and retractable pop-up means movably mounted onsaid delivery table, each of said means being positioned to engagebeneath a stack of blanks to lift a portion of the stack when saidpop-up meansis projected, and operating means for causing projecting andretracting movement of said pop-up means, the operating means beingoperable in response to the movement of the cutting board.

2. In a paper cutting press having a frame, having a paper cutting diemovably mounted on said frame, having a cutting board mounted on saidframe in such position as to support'a lift of paper in cuttingrelationship with said cutting die, having means for moving said cuttingdie so as to cut a plurality of spaced stacks of die cut blanks in saidlift of paper, and having a delivery table adjacent to said cuttingboard for receiving said die cut lift of paper, the improvementcomprising a plurality of swingable fingers each serving as aprojectable and retractable pop up means movably mounted on saiddelivery table, each of said means being positioned to engage beneath astack of blanks to lift a portion of the stack when said pop-up means isprojected, and operating means for causing projecting and retractingmovement of said pop-up means, said delivery table including a pluralityof rockable rods which are positioned substantially parallel to eachother in spaced relationship along the length of the delivery table,said fingers being rigidly attached to said rods and being swingable inresponse to rocking of said rods, and said finger operating meanscomprising means for simultaneously rocking said rods inone direction toproject said fingers and simultaneously rocking said rods in theopposite direction to retract said fingers.

3. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein said finger operatingmeans comprises a plurality of relatively short crank arms each rigidlyconnected at one end to a corresponding one of said rockable rods, eachof said crank arms being rotatably connected at the other end to arelatively long linkage arm which is positioned substantially parallelto the side of said delivery table, and means for pushing said linkagearm in one direction to cause projection of said fingers and for pushingsaid linkage arm in the opposite direction to cause retraction of saidfingers.

4. The combination defined in claim 3 and further comprising means formoving said delivery table toward and away from said paper cutting die,a cam follower rotatably attached to said linkage arm, a cam surfacemember supported in a position to be engaged by said cam follower whensaid delivery table moves away from said paper cutting die, said camsurface member being shaped and positioned to cause movement of said armin a direction which causes retraction of said fingers.

5. The combination defined in claim 4 and further comprising latch meansincluding a latch member connected to one of said rockable rods forlatching said fingers in their projected position.

6. The combination defined in claim 5 wherein said latch means comprisesa first latch member rigidly attached to one of said rockable rods, anda second latch member rotatably attached to an adjacent rockable rod,said second latch member having a projecting tongue which is shaped andposition for latching engagement with said first member.

7. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein said delivery table alsoincludes a plurality of spaced stringers with longitudinally spacedopenings, which stringers are positioned at right angles to saidrockable rods, said rods passing through said openings in the stringers,and said fingers being attached to said rods between said said fingers,and spring means for urging said linkage

1. In a paper cutting press having a frame, having a paper cutting diemovably mounted on said frame, having a cutting board horizontallymovably mounted on said frame for movement between a retracted positionand a position where it supports a lift of paper in cutting relationshipwith said cutting die, having means for moving said cutting die so as tocut a plurality of spaced stacks of die cut blanks in said lift ofpaper, and having a delivery table adjacent to said cutting board forreceiving said die cut lift of paper, the improvement comprising aplurality of projectable and retractable pop-up means movably mounted onsaid delivery table, each of said means being positioned to engagebeneath a stAck of blanks to lift a portion of the stack when saidpop-up means is projected, and operating means for causing projectingand retracting movement of said pop-up means, the operating means beingoperable in response to the movement of the cutting board.
 2. In a papercutting press having a frame, having a paper cutting die movably mountedon said frame, having a cutting board mounted on said frame in suchposition as to support a lift of paper in cutting relationship with saidcutting die, having means for moving said cutting die so as to cut aplurality of spaced stacks of die cut blanks in said lift of paper, andhaving a delivery table adjacent to said cutting board for receivingsaid die cut lift of paper, the improvement comprising a plurality ofswingable fingers each serving as a projectable and retractable pop-upmeans movably mounted on said delivery table, each of said means beingpositioned to engage beneath a stack of blanks to lift a portion of thestack when said pop-up means is projected, and operating means forcausing projecting and retracting movement of said pop-up means, saiddelivery table including a plurality of rockable rods which arepositioned substantially parallel to each other in spaced relationshipalong the length of the delivery table, said fingers being rigidlyattached to said rods and being swingable in response to rocking of saidrods, and said finger operating means comprising means forsimultaneously rocking said rods in one direction to project saidfingers and simultaneously rocking said rods in the opposite directionto retract said fingers.
 3. The combination defined in claim 2 whereinsaid finger operating means comprises a plurality of relatively shortcrank arms each rigidly connected at one end to a corresponding one ofsaid rockable rods, each of said crank arms being rotatably connected atthe other end to a relatively long linkage arm which is positionedsubstantially parallel to the side of said delivery table, and means forpushing said linkage arm in one direction to cause projection of saidfingers and for pushing said linkage arm in the opposite direction tocause retraction of said fingers.
 4. The combination defined in claim 3and further comprising means for moving said delivery table toward andaway from said paper cutting die, a cam follower rotatably attached tosaid linkage arm, a cam surface member supported in a position to beengaged by said cam follower when said delivery table moves away fromsaid paper cutting die, said cam surface member being shaped andpositioned to cause movement of said linkage arm in a direction whichcauses projection of said fingers, and spring means for urging saidlinkage arm in a direction which causes retraction of said fingers. 5.The combination defined in claim 4 and further comprising latch meansincluding a latch member connected to one of said rockable rods forlatching said fingers in their projected position.
 6. The combinationdefined in claim 5 wherein said latch means comprises a first latchmember rigidly attached to one of said rockable rods, and a second latchmember rotatably attached to an adjacent rockable rod, said second latchmember having a projecting tongue which is shaped and position forlatching engagement with said first member.
 7. The combination definedin claim 2 wherein said delivery table also includes a plurality ofspaced stringers with longitudinally spaced openings, which stringersare positioned at right angles to said rockable rods, said rods passingthrough said openings in the stringers, and said fingers being attachedto said rods between said stringers.